Chester Children’s Chorus Summer Concerts – July 27 – 28

The 140 young singers of the Chester Children’s Chorus will perform the immortal music of Mozart and Whitney Houston in concerts Friday, July 27 and Saturday, July 28, both at 8 p.m. in Lang Concert Hall at Swarthmore College.

Members of Wallingford Presbyterian Church are warmly invited to attend. Admission is free and donations to support the chorus program will be accepted. Standing room is not permitted and doors will close when the seats are full.

“Mozart’s Requiem is arguably the most profound 40 minutes of classical music ever written and Whitney Houston was probably the best pop singer of all time, so the children will be honoring two immortal musicians,” said director Dr. John Alston.

The program will include three movements of the Mozart Requiem and a set of iconic Whitney Houston songs, many of them suggested by the chorus members. While Houston’ music is part of the children’s everyday experience, Mozart was completely new to them when they began to learn the Requiem this spring. Pairing the two greats in concert “gives the children an opportunity to sing and celebrate what they love together with what they need to know to be educated and competitive adults,” Dr. Alston said.

The city-wide, elite chorus includes boys and girls 8 to 18 years old from every school in Chester. Children are admitted on the basis of audition and spend five to 10 years in the chorus’ year-round music education program, honing their musical skills and mastering a wide-ranging repertoire.

Dr. Alston, an associate professor of music at Swarthmore College, is an alumnus of the Newark (N.J.) Boys Chorus. Because Chester reminded him of the Newark of his boyhood, he founded the Chester Children’s Chorus to offer children like himself the same opportunity to change their lives through music that the Newark Boys Chorus had given him.

The Chorus program is supported by individuals, foundations, faith communities, corporations, government agencies, and Swarthmore College. More information is available at 610-328-8180 or www.chesterchildrenschorus.org.

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